WINSTED BOARD APPROVES PLAN FOR COMPUTERS

The schools will be able to get more computers faster under a lease-purchase agreement rather than buying them outright.

For that reason, school board members overcame some qualms about additional costs and approved a plan Tuesday night to pursue a lease-purchase agreement to acquire up to 165 computers this year.

The vendor selected, PerScholas, had been one of 10 firms to submit proposals to sell the district 40 computers.

PerScholas, a Bronx, N.Y.-based nonprofit group, had been the low bidder in the school system's search for new hardware. The company's bid of $51,000 for 40 machines, came in about $10,000 less than the next closest bid and about $42,000 less than the highest bidder.

Those bids were for purchasing the computers, but school Business Manager James Gaskins said that by entering a three-year lease, the schools could immediately receive 2.63 computers for every one purchased outright. That's because the lease charge per computer per year -- about $485 -- is far less than the full purchase price.

If officials used this year's budgeted $80,000 to buy, rather than lease, they would get 63 computers for $1,275 each.

Under a three-year lease/purchase plan, the schools would spend $140,000 for computers next year and $180,000 the following. By the end of three years, the school system would have leased 371 machines. Of those, the system will only own those leased in the first year, or 165. Computers leased in 1997-98 would be leased over three years, as would those leased in 1998-99.

Taxpayers will end up paying $235.74 in finance charges for each machine under a lease/purchase arrangement, school officials said. At that rate, total finance charges for 371 machines would be $87,459.54. Also, board member Joseph Fitzgerald and others said they were concerned about the cost of repairs after the one-year warranty on each machine expires.

But Superintendent Raymond Powell and technology coordinator John Coster said the extra cost is worth it. First, the lease/purchase price for each PerScholas machine is $1,454.37, lower than the price offered by the majority of other bidders. The machines would retail for about $2,000 each, Coster said.

Also, both Coster and Powell said the greater number of multimedia machines are needed for training teachers this summer. Teachers will attend a technology institute focused on integrating computers into the curriculum. Teachers also will have the opportunity to bring the school-owned machines home to practice, which Coster said is essential to continued learning.

Local schools have been sorely lacking in computer-based technology, which is essential to make Winsted students competitive, Powell has said.

The schools have undertaken a five-year technology plan designed to integrate technology into the classroom and build networks between schools and with the outside world. Coster said the plan is to eventually have clusters of three to four computers in each classroom.

The board's vote on pursuing a lease was made contingent upon receiving references from other school districts that have used the same kind of lease and upon evaluation of the hardware by school staff.